There are people on the depression forum, who were raped or sexually abused and who are living with related anxiety and depression. I used to be one of those people. After a 25 years marked by inexplicable behavior, anger, many depressions, 3 breakdowns, and just plain general misery, I left that behind. Today, I can handle things that would have caused a tailspin in the past.

Many of the problems I had over those 25 years were not related directly to the abuse, for instance, one depression was about loosing my home. That depression was like a cousin, some steps removed from the abuse--even it could be related through a series of incidences in the past.

Since I know from my own experience that it is possible to minimize the damage and get to a good place in life, I want others to escape from the spider's web too. I've been looking on the internet and found a page that lists many of the things that helped me and lists more.

One important thing isn't there--victims should be told that putting it out of their mind will bite them in butt later on. No one gets over this without remembering, so it's best to try to remember, so the work is lighter.

Here's the page, and even if you weren't abused, some of the techniques are good for other things too.

I just wanted to tell you that I lost my home, too. It was over 5 years ago and it is still so painful to me! I lost so much with it, great neighbors, feeling of independence, feeling of financial security, feeling of accomplishment. I still don't know quite how to cope with it. Anyway, I'm glad you're hear and I'm glad you shared that. It's always comforting to know you aren't alone out here in this scary wacky world!